Nice guys finish first: B2K's time has come

When B2K debuted a year ago, the prospects for a new boy band weren't bright: There was a growing backlash against teen pop, and heartthrobs were fast becoming has-beens.

Yet the R&B quartet has bucked the trend. Within nine months, they've released two albums that have gone gold; had the best-selling R&B single of 2002 with "Uh Huh"; and notched their first No. 1 single, "Bump, Bump, Bump," a rump-shaking dance song featuring P. Diddy.

B2K's penchant for going shirtless during performances, gyrating dance moves and sensuous love ballads have made teens swoon. But the four young men still have a clean-cut demeanor and humble attitude that would please parents.

"We're the nicest gentlemen," says Omarion (real name -- Omari Grandberry), who like the rest of the guys in the group is known by a nickname.

De'mario Thornton, who goes by the nickname Raz B, likens B2K to the Jackson Five and New Edition.

"No offense to them, because they were really, really, like, dope in their time, but we want to be the new [group] that sets the trends for everybody else," he says.

"They're almost like the new Boyz II Men, and right now, there really isn't anybody else filling that hole," Shultz says.

The foursome hopes to move into acting, producing and more.

"We look at it as work -- we have a job, and even though sometimes we're really, really tired, we know that we have stuff to do, and we want to be at a certain point in our careers," Omarion says. "So instead of complaining, we do what we have to do."